Homes in NW Houston go up in flames

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March 26, 2010 4:42:10 AM PDT

HOUSTON --

Residents in northwest Houston worried there may be a serial arsonist on the loose in their neighborhood. Late last night, two vacant homes on West Little York near Wheatley caught fire within minutes of each other.

At around 9pm, Houston firefighters were on their way to a house fire in the 1,400 block of Little York, but before they could get there, they caught sight of a house fully engulfed in the 1,200 block. Both of the homes were vacant.

"We've called arson division because it's a vacant building here at 1227 West Little York, and also a vacant building we were originally going to at 1400 West Little York," said HFD District Chief Larry Gonzalez.

There was no electricity going into the homes, and no one living in them. There were no injuries to anyone, including firefighters.

One of the homes was so damaged that it had to be torn down.

People in the Heights are still worried a serial arsonist could strike again at anytime. The last suspicious fire was just last weekend, when a vacant home on Kiam and Cohn caught fire. That fire happened about a mile west of the area where at least 20 other arsons have occurred since last August.